Love Hurts 5 Ways (OUTDATED STORY) Chapter 24: Bandit Fever, a Fushigi Yuugi + Ouran High School Host Club Crossover fanfic

ATTENTION READERS: This is the Beta version of LH5W, if you want to read the official, updated version of the story, you'll have to go over to DeviantArt. com and head on over to my page. My username is Aloubell. You can also get there by going to my fanfiction. net profile which provides a link over there.
In any case, this Beta version is basically the rough draft of LH5W, my first attempt at it. Much of the plot points from this version will be the same in the official version, but there are significant and consistent characterization changes, a few (but very important) plot differences, expansion of past ideas, and overall better quality in storytelling.

All of this will be done over on DeviantArt. I no longer will write the story in traditional prose nor submit/update it here to fanfiction. net. The Beta version will remain here, just know that it isn't the 100% official story.
The official version will be written in a lazy prose mixed with play-writing elements (you'll get what I mean when you see it).
This is the new format for the story from now on.
So please head on over there if you're interested in updates to the story! Thank you for stopping by =D

-Aloe

PLEASE NOTE: The official version is being written somewhat out of order. The official version will start on chapter 46, the place where the Beta version left off. The official version will go on to complete the last chapters of Season 2. Once those are done, I will redo the story over again from Chapter 1 which will be the official version.

Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!

Using the moisture from the air, I managed to materialize a stream of water and use it as a whip against my flame-headed opponent. As he dodged, I could tell from his speculating eyes that he was trying to come up with some way to get through my offense. Not allowing him the chance to do so, I made sure that I stayed a safe enough distance away. After that violent display of his with those punks, I knew that this guy was good at martial arts/hand-to-hand combat—which was, unfortunately, my weakness.

Jumping from side to side, back to forth, I felt that he was somehow inching closer to me. "You think that this little water trick is gonna help you win?" He taunted. Before I knew it, he was running to the side of the whip, avoiding it completely. "Think again!"

Moving quickly backwards, in an attempt to keep the distance, I tried using a spell. "Shine Aqua Illu—" In the middle of my casting, the guy seemed to appear only inches in front of me using such speed that I didn't even realize that he had advanced so far. Before I even had the chance to gasp in surprise, he brought his leg around, and round-housed me in my ribs, sending me to the ground, sliding until I finally came to a complete stop.

He laughed. "Is that all you got? You may have some magic mumbo jumbo, but you won't be able to beat me!" Growling at him, I started coughing from all the dust that was blown up. Dammit! Casting spells won't work on this guy. He's too fast!

"You three are all skilled in close-combat fighting and therefore are combatable with Akimoto who is a Master Sorceress—meaning that she is a ranged fighter. I am counting on you all to fight alongside her and protect her while she's casting spells."

The beginning of this fight was immediately making Taiitsukun's words make sense to me. She told Nuriko, Tamahome, and Hotohori to protect me while I casted for reasons just like this. Spells—the better ones—required time to gather up the energy and cast, which would make it significantly harder to do so if someone was coming at me all the time not allowing me a second or a minute to do anything. If there was someone handling the close-combat stuff while I was casting, it would give me just enough time to do a spell. But in this case—

The guy came running at me with incredible speed as I continued lying there on the ground. Knowing if he got close again I'd be toast, I lifted both of my hands over my head then immediately smashed them into the ground, causing me to utilize the power of Earth to make the small circumference of ground under me to rise up at least three stories.

"What? Now yer runnin' away?" He shouted up.

"Of course not, you moron! I'm just taking advantage of my abilities just like you were doing. Am I wrong?" Knowing that I successfully managed to screw him up, I retreated far enough into the circle so that he wouldn't see me grabbing at my side. The great pain from his kick was finally starting to kick in—telling me that I couldn't afford to let him get me again. Or else it was all over for me. And there was no way in Hell I was going to let that chump win. Okay, think Aki, think! You can't use spells—not unless you get some distance from him. The problem was his speed. He'd still reach me too quickly. I could use the Tornado Fist on him…Thinking it through, I shook my head. No, that probably wouldn't work. I can tell that this guy did his homework in martial arts—just like Tamahome and unlike the morons I managed to beat in the past with it. If I were to do that, I can't guarantee that I'd land a hit, and my energy would just go away faster. So that leaves me with...using the raw elements—no fancy spells and incantations. I knew it would require me to move around quite a bit, but it beat being beat by that chump.

From up top, I could hear the guy groan in frustration. "Well, if yer gonna hide, then I don't have time for—" Focusing in on Wind, I directed it down towards him, blowing him back and onto the ground. Seizing the opportunity, I made the tower of Earth level back down to its original place so that I could have a better shot of the guy from his level. Concentrating on Water again (since it was so convenient at the time), I collected a bunch in front of me, and without hesitation, flung it at him as it was shaped in a giant sphere.

As he stood there soaking wet, I called upon a cool gust of Wind to blow by and freeze the layer of water that was dripping off of him—thus making it harder for him to move.

"Wha-what th-th-the h-hell?" Shivering, he persisted on giving me a nasty look, fangs bared and all. Feeling that my victory was close at hand, I chuckled.

"What's wrong? Man can't take the cold? Ooo poor baby!" Just as I had said that, he completely surprised me when he managed to shake off the cold and come at me full speed. My eye twitched. Are you serious? Attempting to think fast, I had come to realize that my brain couldn't come up with a valid plan quickly enough before the guy had the chance to reach me.

When he got close enough, I figured that I had thought of something that would at least slow him down. Before leaping backwards, I tapped my foot on the ground, creating a hole in the ground big enough to where if the guy fell in, coming back out would prove a bit difficult. Unfortunately for me, he anticipated my plan and avoided the hole completely. Refusing to give up, every time I landed from my jumps backwards, I would create another hole in high hopes that he would fall in. Turns out, though, that the guy was quick on his feet and wouldn't allow himself to be put into that kind of situation.

My chances of getting out of this easily was beginning to look real slim. The idea of just flying and attacking him from the sky using powerful and legitimate spells was always an option, but I didn't want to take a chance destroying this scenery and the restaurant/inn that already seemed to be having a bad day. I could have also gotten more serious and fought this guy with fire or perhaps more lethal attacks, but this wasn't a to-the-death kind of battle. It was more of a pride thing more than anything else.

Seeing as how I was beginning to run out of ground space—and the fact that I really didn't want to make this place a serious hazard for innocent bystanders—I finally stopped in my tracks fully aware that the guy didn't decide to stop just because I had.

With a confident smile on his face and a blazing look in his eyes, he came racing towards me. "This is it!" He shouted. Just as he was about a yard and half from reaching me, I lightly tapped my foot on the ground behind me causing a softball-sized rock to appear on the ground in front of his path. Before he could even react, his foot caught on the slight added landscape, causing him to lose his balance completely and fall face first to the ground.

"Pftt…" Trying to hold in my amusement proved futile when I suddenly lost it and let out a burst of hearty laughter. "I can't believe you actually fell for that! You are such a moron!" Grabbing my stomach from the pain of laughing, I bent over and continued cracking up. "You fell straight on your face!" Ordinarily, it would have been more clever than funny, but the fact that I couldn't get this guy with anything else except by tripping him was completely priceless. This would be what people call a "Kodak Moment".

Between gasps, I knew I could hear muffled swearing coming from the guy the whole time he remained down there—he must have felt so stupid. When he finally looked up, tears started to form in my eyes from the hilarity of it all. Even him giving me a nasty look wasn't all that affective considering his whole face was red and covered with dirt from the impact.

"That…was playin' dirty…" He spouted.

Clearing my throat and centering myself, I did my best to put on a more serious face. "All's fair in love and war Fang-boy." Crossing my arms, I suddenly felt a hand reach under my foot and lifting it up. With a big enough push, my body fell over resulting in me landing on my butt—hard.

Upon hearing his stifled chuckles, I immediately gave him a similarly nasty look that he had given me not a moment before. "Hey!"

Mocking me while using a high-pitched voice he said, "'All's fair in love and war'," he returned to his normal voice, "remember?" Developing a slightly childish urge, I reached over to him and pulled on his nose.

"How do you like that?" I taunted.

In return, he pulled away and sat up quickly only to aim for my cheeks with both of his hands, stretching them out in a goofy and uncomfortable fashion. "Not as much as ya like this!"

Slapping his hands away, I rubbed my probably reddened cheeks. "You wanna play like that, huh?" Catching onto the childish groove, I swiftly swung my arm around his neck and fiercely rubbed his fiery head with my fist as he struggled under my grasp. "Take this!" Thinking fast, he wrapped his arms around my waist and used his weight to throw me to the ground in front of me, thus breaking him away from me. Sensing that he would try something else, I flipped over onto my back and wrapped my legs around his, making him reunite with the dirty ground once again. Shuffling over to him, I snuck up from behind, slipped my arms under his armpits and brought them back up, locking my hands together against his neck, pushing his head down towards his chest, executing a perfect Full Nelson (yeah, that's right. When Miaka was little, I took a few glimpses at those wrestling shows she was watching. She wasn't the only one with surprises).

Feeling confident, I didn't expect him to take advantage of his weight over mine, swinging my whole body over his head and onto the ground resulting in me facing up to him. While I lie there, stunned, he shifted over and positioned his body on top of mine—just barely hovering over it. Continuing our little "game" he took my ears and started to pull them, making me wince.

"You had me there for a second, but like I said before," he smiled devilishly, "you can't wi—" Right as I put my hands over his to prevent him from pulling any more, the peculiar spark from before surged between us. "…win…" He stopped pulling a wave of pleasant and warm sensations played throughout my body, going back and forth as if the two and us were sharing it.

So there we were, on the ground, him on top of me as we stared at each other from the jolt. Finally realizing what kind of position it looked like we were in, my face instantly turned red and, for some reason, the dark ring around me suddenly pulsated, sending out a wave that would have normally been absorbed by my enemy, causing them to shrivel up in depression. This time, the wave seemed to hit the guy…like physically…causing him to be pushed off of me. Sitting up, I looked over at him who was rubbing his head.

"What the hell was that all about?" He asked.

Something was wrong. Whenever the dark ring targeted anyone in the past, I could feel a piece of my misery break away from me and attaching itself to whoever it was that was a threat—causing them to relieve moments of pain and desolation. But that didn't happen this time…and that was clearly an attack from the ring.

This…isn't possible…the darkness…it was supposed to affect him…go inside of him and make him suffer but…

"Umm…are you…okay? Do you feel any more sad or angrier than usual?" I shakily asked.

Standing up immediately, he barked out, "Mad? Of course I'm mad! I'm freakin' pissed off! A stupid woman is ruinin' my day—why would I be anything but mad?"

Just as I thought. He completely repelled it. A-as if there was some type of shield protecting him. Saru, Kyoko, Kajou, and Miaka had all been able to endure the negative energy better than anyone, even to a point where they didn't notice it most of the time—but even they felt some of its effects, even if it was just a little bit. This guy though…he got out completely free!

Standing up, I kept my gaze upon him as numerous questions raced throughout my brain. "Okay, I give up." I told him.

His eyes suddenly went wide. "Give…up? So easily?"

Shaking my head, I assured him. "I'm not giving up the fight—I'm giving up on trying figuring out the weird stuff that's been going on here." Pointing to him in an accusing way, I said, "Spill it, who are you? And I demand to know what you've been doing to me!"

Getting offensive, he pointed at me in a similar fashion. "Me? This isn't even about me! You're the one who's been messin' with my head. I demand to know what you are!"

Lowering my arm, I realized that going back and forth like this wasn't going to get us anywhere. There had to be some sort of logical explanation as to why all of this funky stuff had been happening to us—

Out of nowhere a long steel chain appeared around me, suddenly encircling my body before I could even react properly. Feeling it tighten its grasp around me, I found that I could no longer move my arms—or any part of my upper body—properly. Falling to my knees as a result of all the motion, I looked up to see the guy I was fighting, thinking that he was the one who was doing this. I had found, though, the he too was tied up with a steel chain, on his knees attempting to get back up. But there were some sketchy guys behind him, holding him down to make sure that he didn't get back up.

Just as I was about to say something, a piece of cloth covered my nose and mouth, making it harder for any of my words to come out clear. Seeing as how another one of the strange guys was trying to constrain me, I attempted to fight back. Breathing in, a strong, sharp smell crawled up my nose, traveling to my brain. The more I inhaled, the more I found my head hurting and vision starting to black out. Everything was becoming a blur and all sounds were muffled. Feeling my eye lids go heavy in relation to my head ferociously spinning, I could no longer feel my body—causing me to completely lose the control of being able to move it myself.

And then, everything went black.

Genrou's 3rd POV~

The young man sat on his knees, his whole upper body tied with a strong type of metal, making escape more difficult—thus wasting his time even more.

Damn that woman! If it weren't for her, I'd be closer to gettin' the cure! And now…He looked up to the tough-looking guy sitting in a throne-like chair in front of him, completely surrounded by the dirty punks who had sneakily captured him and his lady opponent earlier while they were in the middle of battle. Those sneaky bastards. They wait until I'm distracted ta capture me.

"Ah Genrou, so nice of you to be joining us once again!" The tough looking man up front said to the captured young man. He gave a cynical laugh. "Please, make yourself at home!"

The young man, now known as Genrou, refused to look at the guy in the eye and growled. "You know, real men wouldn't sink so low as to wait when his enemy is distracted with somethin' else in order ta capture him." Wondering about the whereabouts of his "distraction," Genrou looked around only to find that the red-eyed woman was sitting there, on her knees, still unconscious—her head resting against the leader's "throne". Around her neck was a sturdy rope, tied as if it were a leash, which also attached to the overly glorified chair. She wasn't wearing the odd foreigner clothes that she had worn earlier—those guys had managed to get her out of that outfit and into a much skimpier one—consisting of some kind of bikini-like cloth covering her bosom, and a longer cloth covering only a portion of her lower half.

Cocking his eyebrow's up, the man's face started to wither from amusement to fury. "And you think that real men would allow our precious treasure to get killed? You have some nerve coming back around here after what you did!"

Genrou gave the guy a puzzled look. "First off, you guy's captured me. I didn't come wanderin' over here 'cause I wanted to. Second…who are you guys again?"

The whole room suddenly did a comedic fall to the ground right after he asked the question. When they finally all got back up, the leader shakily sat back down in his chair. "There's no way that you—" He sighed as his demeanor changed back to serious. "Perhaps the name of the Mt. Kaou bandits will ring some bells." The flaming-haired man's face changed from bewilderment to a solemn one, resulting in him looking away in shame. "Ah, I see that you finally remember!" He rested his head on his hand. "So I suppose that you recall how your bandits—you especially—were the ones who got our precious Reirei killed! You people are also responsible for causing our group to permanently separate. Now, the Mt. Kaou bandits are on the verge of extinction!"

Continuing to look away from the piercing eyes of his enemies around him, Genrou refused to give them a valid answer. He didn't give a damn about the Mt. Kaou bandits, but he knew that it was partially his fault that the young, innocent girl died. It happened way too fast and it shouldn't have happened at all. But it did, and he felt awful—so much to a point where the memory of her caused his heart to squeeze. He wouldn't, however, allow these chumps to make him lose his guard and cause him to feel even guiltier.

A woman with revealing clothes and indigo-colored hair tied up in a tight bun put her hand on the man's shoulder. "It may be best if you were to calm down, dear." Her chilling eyes were enough to make any person immediately freeze.

The man coughed as his exterior anger subsided a bit. "Perhaps you are right, my love." Taking a hold of her hand, he kissed it, causing her to giggle. Turning his attention back onto his captive, he said, "Well, I can see that you don't feel like talking right now. So," The man tugged on the red-eyed woman's "leash". For some strange reason, this caused Genrou to growl. "Maybe this will get a rise out of you. How would you feel if we were to take your woman from you?"

With a black face, Genrou replied, "My…woman?"

"Why yes, this little number right here." He tugged on it again fully aware that the woman at the end of the leash was still out of it. "We saw you two's little version of foreplay back there and figured that she must have quite the impression on you."

The young man's face instantly reddened with what he said—mixed in with colors of anger. "What? How can you even think that I would even consider—with her? And what did you say? You thought that we were—that—that was not any kind of foreplay—"

Ignoring the guy's blabbering, the leader intervened. "I don't care what kind of fling you have with this woman. The point is that we are going to repay you for the wrong you have caused us by taking her from you—letting you feel the pain of what it's like to have something precious to you taken away." Stroking his beard, the guy laughed cynically. "She could be a fair plaything for my men—a present to them if you will." Reaching down, he grabbed the woman's chin and lifted her face, inspecting it further. "She may be a bit plain looking for my tastes, but I'm sure the boys will have a lot of fun…"

"And…"The leader's lover wrapped her arms around his neck in a loving embrace. "She could be my servant. You did say that you'd get me one."

"You are indeed correct. Feel free to use her as you wish. And if she doesn't behave," Taking out a switchblade from his pocket, he positioned it under the red-eyed woman's neck, "we'll just have to train her to be good." As the man sat there, toying with her, Genrou couldn't help but feel a hint of rage welling up inside of him. Sure, maybe he didn't like the chick, but she didn't deserve to be brought into his issue's. More importantly, if he doesn't get that knife away from her, I'll claw his eyes out! Wait—what am I thinking? She's just a woman—the same woman who's been giving me a shit-load of trouble. Why should I even care? Seeing how helpless she looked in an environment filled with dangerous characters made him start to rethink. But still…

"Look," Genrou finally spoke up, "like I was tryin' ta say before, she is not my woman. If you really knew about me and what I was about, you'd know that I don't like women. So why the hell should I care about what'cha decide ta do to her?" Completely surprising everyone in the room, he continued. "You bastards might as well let the lady go, 'cause takin' her wouldn't be all that much of a blow to me." He scoffed. "You call yourselves bandits? Ha! You guys can't even do this job right. Now," Moving around feverishly—the best he could with chains around him anyway—he started to shout, "get these stupid chains off of me before I ground your sorry asses into dirt!" Looking around, he baited them. "Come on! If you want any kind of decent revenge, then you should let my arms free. Then we can settle this!"

"Enough!" Roared the leader as he stood up. "You will suffer for what you have done! Even if it means that we have to dice you up into tiny pieces!" With that cue, all of the men in the room, the leader included, revealed both blunt and sharp weapons ready to be stained with fresh blood. Immediately charging in, Genrou didn't hesitate to stand up—even as his arms were bound. Coming from every direction was someone attempting to slash him in half or crush his bones. Luckily for him, though, he had a lot more skill in brawling than these guys and his speed made it so that the clumsy bunch couldn't even land blow. Had this been against a more competent and formidable opponent, he would probably be a bit more concerned that he was tied up and targeted with lethal weaponry. For example, he knew that if he were fighting that woman at the same time he was bound, he may have been in some serious trouble.

That woman…

He shook his head and continued to dodge and evade the constant threat. I can't be focusin' on her right now! She was the one who got me in this mess in the first place! He growled. I could have been on my way lookin' for the cure for the boss if all of this shit was happening. And I won't be able to do anything as long as I'm tied up like this!

Damn it all.

Stopping to think for a split second, he glanced over at the girl who was still unconscious. She shouldn't be out this long. Did they drug her or somethin'? The memory of her mysterious powers replayed in his head. He started to think: if she has the power over things like that, perhaps she could somehow use that mystic junk on the chains to set me free! Then—Attempting to sneak up from behind, one of the thugs raised up his ax in preparation to swing. Sensing that he was in danger, Genrou spun around and used the only weapon on his person that was free—his legs—to swiftly kick the guy in the gut, sending him backwards and knocking him into several of the other guys.

The more men he took down, the more he realized that they would just keep coming on and on until either he tired out or beat them all.

Genrou had to be realistic.

Taking a quick glance back, he was really hoping that the girl would wake up and provide some useful assistance. With all that was happening, he knew that even with his speed, he wouldn't have been able to reach her quickly enough and untie her leash without the punks recovering and coming at him again. Come on…I just need something. Some kind of edge over these guys—a distraction or a barrier. Somethin'!

Very faintly he could hear sounds coming from the woman's mouth. She was muttering something under her breath. Genrou couldn't tell if she was awake for sure, but figured she wasn't since she wasn't freaking out about the situation. Sleep-talking perhaps? Come on…I—just give me somethin' I can use.

"S—s—se—s…seo…" She muttered. He knew that she was definitely trying to say something. "Seo—seo…s…s—seosh…" Stopping for a second, she said a word out loud that he didn't recognize, "Seoshi." Suddenly, a peculiar dome of light covered the half of the room that contained him and the woman. Looking up in awe, he was forced to close his eyes and shake his head, making sure to reserve his feeling of bewilderment for a later time. After all, he didn't know how long this thing of hers was going to last.

Rushing over to her, he squatted down to her height and investigated the kind of knot she had around her neck. Looks easy enough. At least she was tied with rope and not a chain. Before he did anything, Genrou was finally able to get a good look of the woman as she lie there motionless. And what she was wearing...barely anything really. And now that it was more exposed, her body wasn't that bad either—The thought didn't even have a chance to completely cross his mind since the bandit vigorously shook his head and looked the other way to stop that way of thinking. There was no way in Hell that he'd look at a woman who had caused him such trouble in such a way. Still though, he couldn't stop his amber eyes from drifting to the corner of his eye and down to her chest. And that was when he saw it: A scar. There was a long vertical scar in between her breasts. What the? That was an odd place for a scar to be. What could have happened to cause that?

His eyes grew wide, leading to him mentally punching himself. This wasn't the time to get distracted again! That was his problem in the first place! Lowering is head to her neck, he began tugging at the knot with his teeth, loosening it up more so that it would eventually fall off. The intense proximity to her combined with his lips constantly brushing her skin, made him really shaky and face completely flush more than it already was. Trying to work fast, and part of him still wondering about her oddly placed scar, he tugged and tugged at the right places before the rope finally gave way and fell down to the floor. Breathing a sigh of relief, his eyes were unintentionally brought back to her seemingly peaceful, sleeping face. Groaning to hide back the blush, he thought to himself, she's just a woman…just a stupid, trouble-causin' woman. At least she ain't awake to bother me. Just remember she got'cha into this mess. I'm dumpin' her off the moment I get the chance. Maneuvering under her, he tried to get her body to fall on him to where he could balance her on his back well enough without using his hands.

Which proved rather difficult. Damn.

Backing up from her to assess the situation further, something caught his eye about her that he had noticed earlier. There was some type of…ring? That's what it looked like anyway—some sort of ring circling around her body that looked like it was made of black lightning. He could barely see it—he actually had to squint just to catch what he could. But before the mysterious entity disappeared from his sight, he knew for sure that there was something very peculiar about that woman.

Choosing to get back on the task at hand, he attempted once more at trying to get her on his back.

Getting frustrated, he said, "Come on! I know you're not conscious and all, but if a part of you was able to make this dome-thing appear, then I'm sure as hell that you can wrap an arm around my neck." As though she were listening on a sub-conscious level, she steadily wrapped her arms around him, sending a tiny jolt through his veins. That one wasn't as big as all the others. Probably 'cause she's out of it. He groaned. What the heck has been going on?

Making sure that she was secure enough to where she wouldn't fall off—hopefully—Genrou waited until the odd dome dispersed to bolt out of there. Passing the group of pissed-off bandits using his incomparable speed, he managed to find an open exit—those idiots for even keepin' it open—and go right through. Seeing as how their hide-out was on the edge of a cliff, he was forced to proceed down a sloping trail lined with trees, far enough away to where they wouldn't bother coming after them—at least not for a while.

When he believed that they were safe, he bent his back near a tree so that the peculiar girl could easily slide off and lean against. Squatting down to her height he began his process of attempting to wake her up.

"Hey! Hey, woman! Wake up!" No results. "Wake…up! You can't be telling me that you were able to do all that back there and still tell me that you are still completely out! Wake up already!" This time, there was slight movement with the twitching of her fingers. Genrou groaned in exasperation. Well, I could always dash back to Mt. Reikaku and have the guys get me out of these chains no problem. He thought about it for a second. Then again…how would it look if their future leader came back from some "epic" journey to find the boss' cure, being tied up like some kind of animal? They'd think that I was pathetic to have had those punks get me. And on the other hand, looking at the woman, he grimaced, gettin' saved by some woman doesn't look all that great on my record either—especially after her and I had that whole scene a while ago. Which one is better? Going back to the mountains and losin' some respect, or losin' some of my dignity by having this girl help me? Well, I can always gain my dignity back and the guys will never know about this whole mess. Okay.

"WAKE UP!"

Aki's POV

Trying my best to open my eyes, all I could hear was some loud, obnoxious voice ordering me to wake up—as if my excruciating headache wasn't bad , my brain felt as if someone had gotten a bunch of sharp needles and decided to puncture them through my skull. Not only that, but it was like everything in my head was being shaken up by some sort of blender. I felt like crap.

"Are ya awake yet?" The irritatingly familiar voice called out at a painfully close distance.

Extending my arm as fast as I could, I grabbed whatever I could of the person in front of me—turned out to be his collar—and brought him to my face. Opening my stinging eyes, which were probably blood-shot, all I could see was a blurry figure. If it weren't for the very prominent head of fiery-red hair, I probably wouldn't even have known who I was dealing with. While squinting at the same time I was trying to give him a glare, I hissed through gritted teeth, "Yes. I'm. Awake. Now shut up or get quiet before I am forced to permanently make your face one with the ground." Loosening my grip, I continued with a rather dark tone, "I have one of the worst headaches ever and would appreciate it if you were to lower your volume."

I could faintly see his eyes trailing to the side. "It's not really my fault. You wouldn't wake up."

I wouldn't wake up? "Wait…what happened to me." Grabbing his collar again, I ordered, "What did you do?"

"It wasn't me! The Mt. Kaou bandits have some sort of score to settle with me and you just got brought into it. Had you left me alone in the first place, neither of us would have even been in this situation!"

Bandits, huh? Growling, I asked, "What situation would that be? And why do I feel so horrible? It's like I have a hangover without the alcohol consumption." At least this is what I think a hangover feels like. If it's anything worse than this, then I am definitely staying away from liquor. Body feeling heavy, I stood up on shaky legs—forcing myself to use the guy's shoulder as support. The moment I was up, nothing seemed right—the bright sun intensified my headache and the world just didn't seem like it wanted to sit still. Being on a boat in the middle of a severe storm was nothing compared to how wavy and tipsy everything was looking. "Wha-what did those guys do?"

"Maybe you should sit back down for a second…" To my surprise, I was sure that I heard a slight hint of concern in his voice. "They probably drugged you with somethin'."

I shook my head carefully to avoid any more pain. "No…I just…" Continuing to lean on him, I moved my hand down to feel some kind of cold, metal substance. Feeling around, I discovered that there were chains, and they were tied around the guy—probably to keep him from escaping. Seeing as how it didn't seem like we were in any immediate danger, I figured that he probably got us away from those bandits…all by himself—while I was unconscious. Okay…maybe the guy wasn't completely indecent. "You—you're tied up…"

"Yeah, well…I kind of figured that you could…" He sighed in such an unpleasant way as if he were being forced to do something against his will. Then he mumbled something. "…lp…me…"

"What?"

From my close range, I swear I could see a faint blush on his face as he looked away. "I said, I figured that you could…help…me."

Temporarily forgetting my physical misery, a look of amusement washed onto my face. "Oh. You want a woman's help? Are you sure that I'm not too helpless? Or perhaps I'm not quite as technical as a man to be able to get this complicated chain off of you. Oh! Or maybe I'll just cry again. So many things could go wrong when something is left in a woman's hands. Am I right?" My sarcasm amazes even myself sometimes.

Giving me a sour look, he grumbled, "Just use you're damn mystic crap or whatever to get these things off of me."

Putting my elbow on his shoulder in a nonchalant way, I looked away carelessly. "I don't know—I'm not really likin' your tone. I kind of want to hear that you've learned a lesson about of all of this—something about women being useful…"

"Bite me."

I chuckled. "Okay! If that's the attitude you're gonna have about it then I'll just leave you to go show all your buddies how you allowed yourself to become distracted and tied up by some chumps…" Taking my elbow away, I attempted to walk off in a badass fashion. Unfortunately, the drugs still had quite the effect on my body's equilibrium—making my only exit become nothing less than wobbly.

"I—you—how did you…? I didn't even say that!"

Holding onto the tree for balance, I processed what he asked. How did I know that? Like before, I know I wasn't reading his thoughts…I could…feel his feelings? I didn't know per se that he was worried about being disgraced in front of his friends…but I did know that he was feeling troubled about something. Concentrating, I tried to see if I could feel anything else from him.

Nothing.

Or maybe I'm just crazy. After all, I have been waiting for when I'd finally snap.

Shaking off my ability to blow his mind, he spoke at me. "How do you plan on even gettin' out of here? You can't even stand up straight, let alone walk properly!"

"Oh, and if I freed you you'd help me out? As if. Thanks for your deep concern and all, but I'll be just fine. This drug trip will eventually end, allowing me to get out of this fiasco—and you'll still be here looking like a sorry dumbass with a chain tied around him. So you gotta ask yourself: who's the real loser in all this?"

Taking each step carefully, I zigzagged in an unnatural way, attempting to get the guy to give in as he watched his opportunity at freedom get further and further. Three…two…one—

"Fine!" He shouted. Stopping, I smirked triumphantly. Through gritted teeth, he said, "At this present moment—at this point in time—a woman is…" He strained.

"Say it."

"A woman is useful—at this moment! And this moment only—I require your help." Pretending to gag, he added, "Will you…help me?"

Sighing, I knew that I had won. "Well I suppose that's the best I'm gonna get out of you for now." Using my hand, I beckoned him over to me. "Out of the goodness of my heart, I'll help you. But you'll need to come over here. Walking for me is still a bit…awkward right now." Slowly but surely, he made his way over to me—no doubt with a pissed-off look on his face. Putting my hand only about an inch away from the chains, I tried to think of the best way to get them off of him. Would freezing work? Or perhaps melting the metal would be more effective—Head spinning, it was difficult to even get my thoughts straight. Shaking my head, I tried to focus. I have to do this! I've been making a whole big deal about this and if I mess this up…I'll be a disgrace for women everywhere!

Having Fire in mind, I could feel the heated energy well up in my hand. Easing into it slightly, my energy transferred over to only a few links on cold chains binding the guy. All I had to do was wait until the metal got close enough to its melting point, then he could break free. Thinking that it was a flawless plan, a dizzy spell suddenly hit me, making my energy flow fluctuate in an unnatural way. As a result, a small, unexpected explosion blew up in our faces, sending the flame-haired guy flying a good several yards away.

Standing there with a shocked look on my face, I couldn't help but produce a small, nervous laugh as my wobbly legs finally gave way, sending me to the ground. That's kind of funny…My Fire reverted back to the way it used to be when I was still training with my wand. Small explosions... Haha…High fives for drugs messing with my powers...

The moment the smoke from the explosion dispersed, the guy stood there with a threatening stance—both fists clenched and arms straightened down at his sides, teeth grinding, and eyes piercing directly at me. Huh…he took two of my explosions in one day and came out standing each time…I gotta say…he's an impressive dude...Or very headstrong. "Why the hell did you do that you psycho bitch?"

Continuing to go on with the nervous giggling, I told him. "Dude, I am so sorry. That was so not my intention. You seem fine though!" Allowing my eyes to adjust some more, they caught sight of something. "And look! You're not tied up anymore!" Waving around his arms, he found that that was true. Unfortunately for me, that didn't stop him from being a bit…angry.

"That doesn't give ya the right to be sneaky!" Turning around to cross his arms, he stated, "I knew a woman couldn't be trusted—especially one like you."

All amusement draining out of me, my face was taken over by a look of disdain. "What is that supposed to—" Something had just occurred to me. My brain was finally working to extinguish all foreign drug substance out of my system, allowing me to become somewhat more aware of things again. The thing that was the most noticeable were my clothes—my clothes! Where the hell is my normal clothes? Flailing around, I began to completely spaz out. "What happened to the clothes I was wearing earlier? Why am I wearing this—this—"Face heating up by the second, I was completely embarrassed. Those perverts had put me into some revealing bikini like thing with my cleavage showing and everything! Holding up my fist and allowing my energy to help me get up on my feet, I threatened, "Those guys are dead!" For some reason, my eyes began to water. The thought of the potentiality my innocence being skewered forever must have really stuck me hard.

"Calm down. Those losers aren't worth it," The guy told me. Oh my gosh! The guy! I looked down and remembered just why I hated wearing bikinis and things that showed my cleavage. The scar...My arms immediately rose up and crossed over my chest as I turned my back to him, ashamed. He saw it! Someone actually saw it! From behind me, I heard a small gasp escaped from his lips when he saw the anger mixed with extreme panic on my face. "Look, they didn't do anything to you. I was there the whole time and they didn't even touch you that way…"

My head quickly snapped to the side as I gazed at him out of the corner of my eye. "You saw them stripping me?"

"No!" Even his face started to redden. "They took you out of the room for that."

"Then how would you—"

"There wasn't enough time for them ta do anything like that. Believe me, if they had done somethin', they would have—" He stopped himself to think about something. "They would have had a different attitude when they were threatenin' me. Besides…I—I wouldn't have…" He sighed. "…let them do anything like that…to you…" The moment he said that, I instantly calmed down as my body relaxed. Seeing my new expression, he added quickly, "A real man wouldn't have stood by and let a woman get violated like that. Men who allow those things are scum…and don't deserve to be called men." Even though the guy really infuriated me, something sort of…switched inside of me. The sides of my lips curving up slightly, I couldn't refrain from relaxing a bit and giving him a thankful smile—a genuine one. But for some reason, I looked down with a slightly flushed face. It was then that I realized that something was very wrong:

My bracelet was gone.

The bracelet that Hikaru designed and had made custom beautifully—just for me—had disappeared from my wrist. It was my most prized possession and it was gone. My ties to the Host Club and life in that world was in that bracelet! Wondering where I could have possibly left it, my head snapped up to the bandits' hideout. Anger welling up inside of me, my sudden burst of energy began to steadily lift me from the ground, ferocious Wind flying all around.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He shouted through the violently swirling winds.

"They. Stole. My. Bracelet."

"What?" Grabbing onto my wrist, he attempted to tug me down. "You're not seriously gettin' all fussed-up because of some stupid piece o' jewelry!"

Pulling my arm away, I chose to ignore him. "I'm going whether you help me or not. I've helped you out of those chains, so you can just go." Having said that, the hold on my energy was still rather shaky, making staying in the air pretty challenging. No matter what, though, I was determined to get my precious bracelet back.

He scratched his head with an annoyed expression. "Women always get worked up over the stupidest things…"

I am so done with this guy! Forget him! Putting my energy and focus back onto the bandits, I knew I had to really concentrate if I wanted to get through this still-being-drugged thing. So even though things were still a bit—actually a lot—shaky, I proceeded with levitating up the steep cliff to face the sorry bastards who chose to mess with Akimoto Tsubaki.

Just as I was getting close to the entrance, another severe dizzy spell attacked me, causing me to fall to the ground, straight out of the air. Body struggling to look up, my vision was still quite blurry, and in combination with everything looking as if it were always moving, things were quite distorted in my eyes. Panting, I tried to use my energy to help me get back up. But when I discovered that it took more effort than it should have, the possibility of me actually losing energy from trying so hard was coming to light. It was just like what Miss Emiko had told me, "It's not good to try and force it like that. You have to think of your energy like a stove: what you were just doing was like turning the knob to turn the fire on, but all you get is gas. Without the spark, the fire, or your power, will never start and you'll keep wasting energy, causing you to tire out a lot faster than you normally would while using magic." If I continued trying so hard, then this whole thing would have been for nothing. I was doing more harm than good to myself. As long as the drugs were in my system, using magic could have been hazardous.

But I have to keep going!

Finding a way to get up, I noticed an entrance that was surprisingly unguarded. Either those guys were idiots or they were confident. No matter which way it was, I still planned on going in there and raising all Hell if I had to.

Working my way through the hallways, I found that there was nobody…anywhere! I mean, did they all go out hunting or something? Or maybe I had the wrong bandit hideout…

Finally hearing voices, I followed them into a brightly lit room—sneaking along quietly. Peeking around the corner, I had discovered that everyone had gathered themselves into that one room—which was big, but it kind of unnerved me to see them all just grouped up like that.

"Get Genrou! Get Genrou!" They all chanted. Genrou? Who's Genrou? Is it that loud-mouthed, chauvinistic, fanged red-head that I left behind? "Make him pay!"

"Honey…" A rather tramp-ish looking woman with deep indigo hair in a bun snuggled herself up to some big, middle-aged, rough-looking man. Considering he was in the middle of it all, I figured that he was their leader. "I really wanted that girl to be my servant. Are we going to go after them again?" Servant? As if, bitch!

"Yes my dear. Genrou will pay for what he's done to our last leader as well as Reirei. And if you really want that girl, then we'll make sure that we don't lose her again." He put his arms around her waist. "Does that please you?"

She giggled coolly. "Of course. And this little token pleases me even more!" Holding up her writs, I gasp to discover that the little slut was wearing my bracelet!

"I knew that it was your style." He kissed her on the cheek.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to assume that 'style' means something completely different here than where I come from." Revealing myself, I stepped out of the shadows and acted as if the drugs weren't still in effect. "Because that new accessory of yours makes you look like a bracelet-stealing ho!" Despite the witty banter, I was mad as hell. There was absolutely no way I was going to let that bitch where my bracelet for sport.

Seeing the woman's face scrunch up distastefully, she spoke. "Well if it isn't our new toy. You'd never know it when she was asleep, but she has quite the mouth on her."

"Don't worry my dear, we can easily fix that."

I growled. "You'll need something fixed if you don't give me back my bracelet!"

"Aww isn't that cute? She thinks she stands a chance!"

"Hey there girly, want to have some fun with a real man?"

"Maybe this time we can play with her when all of her clothes are off!"

"How should we have her first?"

"Now, now men." As my anger boiled to an all-time high, the leader spoke. "Don't do anything too drastic until Genrou comes. I want to see the look on his face when he sees his woman submit to us…"

All mental barriers completely broken from both my fury and the drugs, the energy networks in my body seemed to be vibrating from the intense chaos of trying to escape and make its way out. Emotions racing out of control, there was nothing stopping it from making its way out. With the dark ring around my body flaring out of control, the negative energy peculiarly mixed with my Wind element, producing a black, ominous wind that seemed to consume the whole room. Lights flickering on and off, the population of the room all fell to the floor as the Dark Wind picked up various objects around the room, crashing them into all corners of the room. I couldn't understand why all of this was happening. Ever since I met that guy, Genrou, I guess, weird things have been going on with my magic, emotions, and my body, and I was called out, drugged, kidnapped, robbed, I was having an all-around bad day. In fact, it surprised me a bit that it took this long for me to finally lash out at someone. On a normal bases, I may not have exploded so dramatically from my bracelet being stolen, but the whole notion of having it taken following the other screwed up events of my day was what tipped the rest of my patience completely over the cliff—along with my emotional-spell control. So in all fairness, everything that was happening may have been a bit over-the-top, but it was completely justified.

Extending my arm, the Wind complied with my mental command and blew the woman straight to me. With a terrified look on her face, she just stood there as I forcefully took her wrist and slid my bracelet straight off. Letting go of her, the Wind persisted on blowing her into a nearby wall just as I was returning the beautiful ring to its rightful place—around my wrist.

Feeling like my job was done, I slowly made my way to the already open double-doors. As my brain and magic was beginning to fizzle out, I continued to allow my energy to go full throttle. Walking in a both unnatural and uncomfortable fashion, each step was getting smaller and smaller in correlation with my energy depleting—fast. My feverish panting was a sign that I was almost at my limit.

As the Wind continued to blow, something flew to my feet. It was my clothes—my normal clothes. Taking the obvious opportunity, I squatted down and took them into my arms, anticipating the moment I could put them on again and get out of that ridiculous get-up they had put me in.

Just as I was becoming content with the outcome of things, my body finally decided to fail on me, making me fall backwards in defeat. Expecting to hit the cold floor, I was surprised to find two firm arms holding me up by my shoulders, instantly sending an awakening shock through my system—which seemed to be the jumpstart I needed to snap me into full consciousness again.

Looking back, I saw the familiar amber eyes and fiery hair that belonged to the beginning of my problems of that day. "You know, you seem like the type of woman who has trouble constantly followin' her." Sighing, he gave a confident smile. "Honestly, this is such a drag and a waste of my time." Then why are you smiling you jerk?

The negative energy in the air began to behave abnormally the moment Genrou got to me—it suddenly became more violent and hostile, eventually targeting me. Before it even had a chance to, a peculiar golden light consumed the two of us only to be fused with Wind just as the dark energy did, going straight for the threatening presence. The two forces seemed to have been fighting one another, like two opposing forces, yin and yang, going head to head. Rooting for Light to win, all it took was a mental push and the Wind of Light overwhelmed the darkness, completely making it disperse. Where did that Light come from? I wasn't even thinking anything positive…or about Hikaru. Yet, it came out of me. It even felt as if I hadn't even lost any energy at all. I have been completely re-charged!

Snapping out of my awe, I faced him. "Why did you come back anyway?"

"Well…my conscious was botherin' me—damn thing—and I couldn't let this sorry excuse for bandits completely get away with ruinin' my day." Well I suppose if I have to suffer a bad day, it would only be fair if someone else I knew did as well. It feels good knowing that I wasn't the only one having a crappy time!

Scanning the room, I noticed how all of the guys in there were starting to recover from everything that had just happened, signaling to me that it was time to get out of there.

Seriously, I was so done with the whole bandit thing. Genrou was right—they were not worth the trouble.

As he helped me up, it seemed as if we had a secret agreement to each other to get the heck out of there. Just as the exit was in sight, we somehow missed the swift ambush that was set upon us. The logic of how it was even possible that they were able to pull all of that off without either of us noticing is completely beyond me. Of course, I could always make some kind of complaint about how the Laws of Physics should be applied here, but ever since my journey began, the Laws of Physics lost so much of its credibility that it was just as valuable as a scribble drawing by a three year old. To all the parents out there reading this, I'm sure you all think that your cute, little pre-schooler is the most adorable thing in the world, but let's face it, their drawings absolutely suck—just like the supposed "Laws of Physics" that are supposed to apply but don't.

Yup, I could just hear the universe laughing.

Their leader revealed himself from the crowd of violent, weapon-wielding looking characters. "Genrou, of the Mt. Reikaku Bandits, you are responsible for the downfall of the Mt. Kaou Bandits. You can't just think that we're going to simply let you go—"

"Actually," I interrupted, "that's exactly what we plan on doing. So you might as well get used to the idea." Taking a firm hold of Genrou's wrist, I gathered my energy into a big enough burst to lift us both from the ground. "Ray Wing!" As quickly as I had casted the spell, we were already out of there, being covered by a shield of wind, and heading far enough away from the place with such speed that they couldn't even think of keeping up.

Feeling the toll in my energy return, there was an unexpected decent as we made impact with and skidded across the ground. Struggling to get up, we both sat there on the ground rubbing our heads.

"Perhaps you should work on that landing of yours—"

"Shut it!" I demanded. "Give me a break here, I am running on reserve energy. Besides, I got us out, didn't I?"

"Yeah, and about that, try warnin' someone next time!"

"What's wrong?" Pouting my lips in a mocking way, I gave a somewhat cutesy performance. "Is baby afraid to fly?"

Face going red, he retorted, "Look, I didn't even need—and I didn't want—to come after you, so don't make me regret even more what I did!" Feeling my first wave of relief all day, I giggled.

But of course, even that temporary peace had been disturbed.

"Genrou! Come back up here and face us!" Roared a voice resulting in the two of us groaning. "What kind of man are you to turn down a challenge?"

Don't those guys ever give up? Realizing what the guy said, I faced Genrou. "Yeah that's true, this whole time you've been bragging about how much of a man you are. Are you really gonna take all that crap from those guys?"

Taking a final thoughtful look up the cliff, he told me, "Eh, those guy's' opinion about what makes a man doesn't really matter ta me. Besides, I've dealt with those jerks before and I meant it when I said that they aren't worth it." For a split second, I could've sworn that I saw some kind of guilty look in his eye. As quickly as it came, though, it was already gone. "Had it been literally anyone else, at any other time, I wouldn't have hesitated to prove that I was the bigger man and kicked all of their asses back to their mothers." Taking a peak at my softened look, he pretended to ignore it and kept going. "I just don't have the taste to deal with them."

Before I had a chance to say anything to him, the bandit leader yelled once again, "You will forever be a disgrace to every real man out there!" Oh, just shut up! "And you, woman!" My head turned to face the top of the cliff. "This isn't over between us either! You have now mixed yourself up with the nightmare that is the Mt. Kaou Bandits!" Great. "We will always be there when you least expect it—ready to make your life miserable up until the day you die. We're coming after you, bitch! Even if we have to go through all the women and children of the land, you will both know suffering!"

"Damn…they aren't even the real Mt. Kaou Bandits…just the ones that were left off from the actual ones. And they say that I'm the disgrace."

"Woman! As plain as you are, you will be ours!"

…Plain…? Plain? Plain? Lifting my hands over my head and directing the dark ring, I began to gather intense energy—red lighting forming in my palms. My bad day ends here. "Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows. I pledge myself to conquer, all the foes who stand—before the mighty gifts bestowed to my unworthy hands. Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess!" A large sphere of intense red and black energy collected in my hands—the trees all around rustled from the atmospheric disturbance. Aiming at the cliff hideout, I finished the spell, "Dragon Slave!"

"We're sorry!"

"I want to hear you say it again!"

After I released the Dragon Slave, my depth perception was still a bit off due to the after effects of the drugs. So, I wasn't able to destroy the whole place down to a crisp like I initially wanted. Instead, I managed to hit the top half, causing that to become completely destroyed which, of course, still affected any and all people inside the building. Whether they were just barely hit by the monstrous spell, or even by the debris, by time the whole thing was over, they finally got the message that they shouldn't mess with me—I made them aware that I was a force to be reckoned with. By the time I had gotten my real clothes (jacket, tube top, shorts, high-top converse) back on—home sweet clothes!—and cleared my head off all foreign contaminants—seriously never drinking or taking drugs…ever—the remainder of their once proud banditry came crawling down the mountain—on their knees!—to beg for my forgiveness. Karma…sweet, sweet karma.

Now there they were, bowing to me on the ground with fear, making sure not to look up at me unless they had a death wish. Crossing my arms, I forced them to apologize again. "I said, I still can't hear you!"

"We're sorry!"

"You know, I'm not quite sure that's good enough." Growling, I could immediately tell that they were shaking from fear. "You all have absolutely no idea how sick I am of thugs, punks, and bandits who always think that they can get away with whatever they want with whoever they want…wherever they want! I am so sick of people like you messing with the innocent just for sport. Oh, and it's not just regular people—oh no—you go straight for the 'helpless' women just 'cause they look vulnerable. Well just because there is an opening, doesn't mean that you should go for it." The volume of my voice got louder. "Are you all even listening to me?"

"Yes ma'am!" They all responded simultaneously.

Starting to pace in front of them from left to right, I continued. "Just 'cause I only catch you—and eventually stop you—from messing with the women, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that you also terrorize men and children too. Am I right?"

No answer.

"I asked you, AM I RIGHT?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"And speaking of terrorize, I demand to know which one of you sorry people took of my clothes and made me where that skanky trash! If I find out that I'm not a virgin anymore, I will show no mercy! Who was it?" When no one would fess up, I lifted both of my hands and effortlessly produced two softball-sized fireballs. The fear factor worked so well, that the woman from before instantly stood up.

"I-it was me. They left the job of dressing you to me ma'am. That's how I…'found' your bracelet—wh-which was wrong of me to take!"

I faced the others who remained bowing. "Is this true?"

The once intimidating leader spoke up next. "Y-yes. We were too occupied with Genrou to give you 'special attention'. So we dressed you up in that little number so that we could—" Catching my glare, he finished his explanation quickly. "—toy with you some more but now we know that that was completely wrong and will never do it a-again—ma'am!"

"Yeah, I'm sure you won't…" Thank God. I'm still innocent. I raised my voice once more. "Heads up everyone." Without hesitation, all of their heads snapped up. "If I ever, and I mean ever come across another punk, thug, slave-trader, or bandit mess with anyone so bluntly in front of my face agin, then not only will I deal with that specific person, but I will make sure to come find you guys regardless of whether that person was even a part of you or not ." With each of them giving me similarly frightened looks, I answered the question that was probably floating around in their heads. "Yes, I have a tracking spell that will find you so fast that you won't even have the chance to say 'holy crap, we're dead'. I promise you…that I will come and find you—all of you—and make your lives so full of pain and misery that you will embrace the thought of hell. It will look like a pleasant vacation compared to what I have planned." My eyes narrowed. "So I advise traveling around and telling your network of bandits to behave. Got it?" Making fire appear in my background, I proceeded to let them all cower in fear.

I could even hear a faint, "S-scary" coming from Genrou.

Ordinarily, I wasn't an outwardly aggressive or violent person. Any kind of hostility I showed, it was usually when provoked and usually only lasted a few minutes—if that. Because of the intimidation status I had all my life, I eventually stopped using the dark ring's power on people to make them leave me alone. All I really needed was empty threats and a cold tone, and that would send them running. Believe me, I don't like fighting in a physical and violent sense—arguing is completely different, I do find amusement in that—I just use it when I feel threatened or when necessary. And sarcasm would be splashed in there, very often, with my unique timing and please. But all in all, I wasn't a bully who demanded people to fear her just for the sake of being a jerk and being on top—in a way that would bring me extra attention—a different kind of attention, but attention nonetheless—which I hated. All I wanted was for people to leave me alone since I was so used to loneliness anyway.

But for some strange reason, Genrou's contact caused some part of my emotions that I have been repressing or locked all these years to…release…or make themselves more known. I wasn't quite sure if this whole thing was good or bad as of yet, but it was probably best that I lost the emotional-high soon so that I could actually start thinking straight again.

About half an hour later, the sun was setting and Genrou and I had already left the bandits behind to wallow in their fear. We both walked in silence since that whole outburst of mine, making this really uncomfortable. What made it even worse was that he saw my scar...no one was supposed to ever see that. I was so embarrassed...

He eventually broke the ice. "So…do you actually plan on findin' them again if more bandits attack someone?" Well, at least he's not asking about my scar...

I shrugged. "Yeah, probably. Like I said, I'm fed up with all of that crap I have been dealing with since day one. I just can't stand guys like that!"

"You um…ya do know that I'm a bandit, right?" His question made me stop in my tracks.

"Yeah, I know."

"Then why aren't'cha…"

"Going all homicidal? Well you haven't done anything to make me mad lately." In fact, and I wasn't going to admit this to him, I thought he was a pretty decent guy—rough around the edges, yeah, but decent nonetheless. Sighing, I went on explaining. "Look, I was mad earlier today when we met because you called me a bunch of unnecessary names and pretty much insulted my gender. If I didn't react negatively after all of that, then there would definitely be something considerably wrong with me—or anyone." Remembering what he had said about women's emotions earlier, I added, "Yes, I agree that some women can be extremely crazy and bi-polar. If those were the types of women you grew up with that made you so bitter towards this gender, then I am sorry. But you need to understand that women have emotions just like men do. They act upon them when appropriate—like I did and do." Waiting a few minutes for an answer, I was starting to realize that I wasn't going to get a real response for all that stuff I had said.

Then he spoke up. "Why does it always take women such a long time ta get their point across?"

Lowering my head in a groan, I thought to myself, I give up. Changing the subject, I perked up slightly and held out my hand for a shake. "It's nice to meet you Genrou, my name is Akimoto Tsubaki." His eyebrow cocked up with my introduction. "I actually prefer to be called Aki." I waited a few seconds standing there like an idiot with my hand out. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Aren't you gonna shake my hand?"

Looking at my hand once more, he turned his back to me and rested his hands behind his head "Don't really wanna."

What? Faking a smile, I wondered something. "Tell me, Genrou, are you gay?"

Finally getting a reaction from him, he jumped and faced me again with a dumbstruck expression. "What?"

"Well I'm just asking because you keep saying how much you hate women. So…I figured—"

"That I was gay? No I am not! Just because I don't like women doesn't mean that I prefer men. I don't have to like either you know."

"What, are you some kind of species that reproduces asexually or something?" I asked causing him to completely flip out.

"I'm a human, you idiot! Why would'ja even ask somethin' like that?" At this point, his face was completely red. I could tell that I was swimming in uncomfortable territory for him.

Pretending to actually do some thinking about this, I looked all around as if in thought. "Well if you aren't gay, and you don't reproduce asexually, then," dropping a fist on my other palm in an epiphany, I said, "then you must have the mentality of a child."

"Huh?"

"You know, how little boys are always like 'girls are so icky' and 'girls are all annoying' and 'I will never like girls for as long as I live'? Well, that's kind of how you act. With the woman subject anyway."

"I do not act like a kid!" At this point he was in my face, attempting to make his point. "I just don't like women, okay? They bother me. So drop it."

Smiling victoriously since I was successfully able to strike up a rousing conversation, I attempted to make peace. "Okay, whatever. By the way, I will admit that you are…an okay fighter. But I would have totally taken you out in that fight—"

"No you wouldn't have. Any chance you thought you had, it was just because I was goin' easy on ya. Don't get cocky." At that, he started to walk away. "See ya."

Alarmed, I asked out to him, "Where do you think you're going?"

Continuing to walk, he glanced back at me out of the corner of his eye. "I told you, I'm in a hurry and this whole day has been a complete waste."

"Well then…" Thinking quickly on my feet, I told him, "Let me come with you." That got him to stop.

"Why would I want to travel around with the likes of you?"

"Well…let's start with the fact that we are both looking for something." I had figured that that was the reason as to why he himself was on a journey as well as why he was in such a hurry. "Since there is strength in numbers, it wouldn't be all that bad of an idea. And it wouldn't be for a long time, just…temporary." It would only be until Miaka gets back...I'm not even sure that it'll be that long, but it's probably a good estimate. Aside from the fact that I needed someone around who knew the land—since, once again, I forgot to ask Hotohori for a blasted map—it had come to my attention from this whole experience that it may have been a good idea after all to have a close-combat fighter at hand for those times when I needed to cast.

"Look, Aki, or whatever yer name is, I don't need the extra baggage. Like I said before I'm—"

"—in a hurry. Yeah, I heard the speech already. And I wouldn't be holding you down—I can handle myself. And if you're worry is about you looking less macho with me around, don't worry—I'm plenty tough and not girly in any way. You saw what I did to that building back there." My intention was not to sound as if I absolutely needed to travel with this guy. I just wanted to be smart and practical.

Unfortunately, he didn't agree with my views. "You wouldn't be able to handle it."

"Bet I can." Just as I said that, a gust of wind blew by and when I blinked, I found that Genrou was gone! Looking around, I tried to discover what the heck had even happened. Levitating high into the sky, I noticed a trail of dirt quickly being kicked up in a long, moving line. It was Genrou. He was moving extremely fast probably in an attempt to get away from me. Oh no. You are not getting away that easily! "Ray Wing!" Producing the shield of Wind once again, I zoomed through the sky, gaining speed until I was going at the same speed as my new acquaintance. In fact, the only way possibly for me to keep up with him was by flying and a boosting spell to back it up. Descending, I eventually went low enough to where I was only a few feet above him. "You jerk! I can't believe you did that!"

"Go away, will ya?" Maneuvering in different directions, he attempted to lose me on his trail. Considering I had the birds-eye-view, his attempts were all in vain. The whole time, I kept up with him, not allowing him to leave my sight.

Soon enough (twenty minutes later), he stopped, bent over and panted. "O-okay…I-I'll admit. You're the only one…who could ever catch up to me." Recovering quickly, he stood up straight. "Say I let you come along. What's in it for me?"

Not that you deserve it or anything…Summoning the kunai Hotohori gave me from my space, I held it out for him to see it clearly. "You see this? It means that I'm a personal friend of the Emperor. With this, I can go anywhere and buy anything that would assist me on my journey. So if I come with you, you'll get the spoils as well—" Blinking, I realized that the kunai wasn't even in my hand anymore. What the?

Looking on about ten yards ahead, I saw Genrou with the kunai in his hands, smiling evilly. "You should know better than to take out something so valuable in front of the future leader of the Mt. Reikaku Bandits." Laughing menacingly, he turned around to escape…only to find me standing right there. Got to love the lack of Laws of Physics around here.

Stomping the ground, I used the power of Earth to make it rise up and capture his legs, making it so that he wouldn't be able to get away again. "Hand it over." Growling, he reluctantly gave me back the kunai way easier and faster than I thought he would, sort of making me believe that he hadn't really been intending to steal it. It felt as if he was just messing with me. Well at least he's learning.

Releasing him, the Earth retreated back into the ground, reverting the landscape completely back to its previous state.

Scratching behind his head sheepishly as he looked away, he sighed. "Fine. You can come along."

-Aloe

Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!